Health Studies
Health Studies
Health care is undergoing fundamental change from solely treating acute illness to focusing on a person’s whole needs for wellness—where physical health, mental health and social supports are explored—involving a team of health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health specialists and others. In this new model, health managers, information specialists and policy experts are fundamentally important to leading the change and York’s Health Studies program prepares students for careers in these dynamic fields.
Are you interested in health but are not sure you want to be a doctor or a nurse? Did you know that non-clinical health professions are among the fastest growing occupations in Canada? Did you know that doctors and nurses rely upon health managers, information specialists and policy experts to ensure that our health care system serves our needs and is sustainable? That’s because health managers oversee systems to ensure the quality of care and services for patients, information specialists provide and analyze data that hospital executives rely upon to make decisions, and policy specialists advise governments on the best ways to meet patient and broader societal needs today and in the future.
Careers available to graduates with a Bachelor of Health Studies (includes those in the Specialized Honours Health Informatics, Health Management, and Health Policy, or the Honours in Health Studies) in non-clinical areas including health policy research and consulting, business management, and information analysts and consultants, are among Toronto's Top Jobs for salary and job openings according to the Toronto Star (Feb 13, 2020).
Health Management
Bachelor of Health Studies (BHS)
Specialized Honours
With a growing population and demand for more health services, one of the fastest growing professions is that of health care manager. In the health management program, students learn about the health system from an organizational perspective through courses that cover health management, leadership and decision-making, measuring health system performance, health finance, and integrated health systems.
Health Informatics
Bachelor of Health Studies (BHS)
Specialized Honours
Computers, networks, mobile technology and apps are rapidly changing health and health care – everything from how we communicate with our health care providers, to how we get information, to how health care professionals collect, share and use electronic information that directly affects our health. Students learn how to analyze and evaluate information crucial to health care decision-making.
Health Policy
Bachelor of Health Studies (BHS)
Specialized Honours
Political, economic, cultural, and environmental considerations all factor into how health care decisions are made. In this program, students explore health care decision-making and the role of both government and non-government organizations. Important issues are covered, including the public/private mix in health care, integrated health systems, international health systems, the influence of stakeholder groups such as the pharmaceutical industry and more.
Health Studies
Honours Bachelor of Health Studies (BHS)
Not sure if you want to focus on Health Management, Informatics or Policy in your first year? Then choose Health Studies and explore all three. In addition to taking courses in management, informatics and policy, students study the breadth and depth of health and health care through a wide variety of issues and social contexts (e.g. social status and disability, homelessness), including case studies in health care in the community. Societal factors that determine why some people stay healthy and others become ill are also examined such as income, stress, early life, social exclusion, work conditions, unemployment, social support, mental health, addiction, food and transportation.
Health Studies offers students the flexibility to attain a double major or do a minor in other Faculty of Health or York programs. The program also provides students with the prerequisites for postgraduate study in a professional program (e.g. medicine, law) or graduate school.
Courses
All students, whether in the Specialized Honours options (Management, Informatics or Policy) or the Honours Bachelor of Health Studies option, take the same core courses, including:
• Health Management I • Health Policy: Power & Politics • Health Care Law
• Health Informatics I • Social Determinants of Health • Health Care Ethics
• Foundations of Health Studies
You can pursue this degree in conjunction with the Certificate in Health Informatics as well as the Health Services Financial Management Certificate.
You might be interested in other programs from the Faculty of Health or Health & Society.
Work Placement Opportunity
Students have an opportunity in 4th year to get hands on experience through a field placement in a variety of health care settings in which students are mentored and supported by fieldwork-supervisors (HLST 4990 Health Studies Practicum).
Possible Career Paths:
- Health Care Manager
- Health Systems Planner
- Quality Performance Manager
- Information Coordinator
- Project Manager
- Health Policy Researcher
- Data Analyst
- Health Finance Manager
- Health Information Specialist
- Systems Designer
- Systems Integration Specialist
- Software Developer
- Health Human Resources Manager
- Health Policy Advisor/Analyst
- Community Health Worker
- Health Care Consultant
- Health Writer/Communications Professional
- Doctor*
- Nurse*
- Lawyer*
- Professor*
- Teacher*
*with further postgraduate training
Program Details
Offered By
Degrees Offered
Fall Entry
Winter Entry
Summer Entry
Ways to Study
Sample Schedule (First-year)
- Foundations of Health Studies
- Foundations of Health Studies II: Health on the Front Lines
- Making Sense of a Changing World: Anthropology Today (Recommended General Education Course)
- Introduction to Microeconomics (for Health Management, Health Informatics, and Health Policy Specialized Honours)
- Introduction to Business (for Health Management Specialized Honours)
- Information and Organizations (for Health Informatics Specialized Honours)
Possible Career Paths
- health policy specialist/researcher
- health manager (HR, resources, systems)
- health information specialist
- information system designer
- data analyst
- clinic director
- project coordinator
- software developer
- health systems planner
- doctor
- lawyer
Viewbooks
Admission Requirements
I am a high-school student I have completed at least one year of full-time study at college or university I have been away from high-school for at least two years I have never studied in a formal academic high-school environment Returning / Reactivating student (previously York) Visiting StudentsBHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Terminale math
- A maximum of 30 possible transferable credits may be granted for successful completion of the Baccalauréat Général. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Minimum overall result of “Bien/Buena/Bueno/Good” on all academic courses.
- Some programs require a higher GPA.
- Senior-level math
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- A minimum overall average of 3 out of 7 is required. Higher grades required for certain programs.
- 2-unit math
- CAPE 2-unit courses, with results of 3 or better, are eligible for transfer credit, up to a maximum of 18 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
BHS
- Senior-level math
- Extra courses will be assessed for transfer credit. Applicants with the DEC may be awarded up to one full year of transfer credit.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Grade 12 math
- Some programs require higher. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- Prerequisite courses should not be below a grade of 4.0 or 70%.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Senior-level math
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- A-level math
- GCE A2 examinations with results of "C" or better, are eligible for transfer credit, up to a maximum of 18 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Twelfth Year math
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- IB Diploma with passes in six subjects: three passes at the Standard-level and three passes at the Higher-level, or two passes at the Standard-level and four passes at the Higher-level
- One of the following math subjects
- Analysis and Approaches higher-level
- Analysis and Approaches standard-level
- Applications and Interpretations higher-level
- Applications and Interpretations standard-level
- Transfer credit is granted for IB courses with Higher-level final grades of 5 or better, to a maximum of 30 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
- Some programs require a higher average. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- Prerequisite courses should not be below a grade of 55%.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- All-India Senior School Certificate (AISSCE)
- Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC)
- Indian School Certificate (ISC)
- Intermediate Examination Certificate
- Pre-University Examination Certificate
- Grade XII math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- 4U math
BHS
BHS
BHS
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Senior-level math
- Grade 12 graduation with a minimum overall average of "B" on Grade 11 and Grade 12 academic courses is required to be considered for most programs. Some programs require a higher average. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- SAT or ACT scores are not required for students studying in a recognized accredited US curriculum outside the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam.
- SATs/ACTs are considered in combination with high school grades.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
For Fall (September) 2021 and Winter (January) 2022 entry, York University will deem the SAT/ACT as optional for students studying in a recognized accredited US curriculum high school in the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam. However, students who have completed a standardized test are encouraged to submit their test scores as it may support your application for competitive programs. SAT/ACT scores must be sent electronically from the College Board directly to York. Please browse the section below for pre-requisites and detailed admission requirements.
Note: An SAT/ACT test will be required from students who are not enrolled in a recognized accredited US curriculum high school in the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam or have not studied in a formal academic high-school environment.
BHS
- Senior-level math
- AP College Board examinations are eligible for transfer credit, for results of 4 or 5, up to a maximum of 30 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BHS
- Senior-level math
BHS
- Senior-level math
You are required to provide official evidence of academic achievement in secondary education. This can be demonstrated through:
- Final grades under the Ontario curriculum (obtained through correspondence, night school or through TVO)
- Credentials through other curricula, such as results from Advanced Placement (AP) or Advanced-level courses in the General Certificate of Education (GCE). (Students may register to sit for the AP and GCE examinations as private candidates.)
In the absence of final grades in courses:
- You must submit the results of standardized tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with a minimum combined total of 1170 on the Critical Reading and Math components or a composite American College Testing (ACT) score of 24.
- Your application will be reviewed by an admissions sub-committee. If admitted, you will not be eligible for entrance scholarships. You will be considered for continuing student scholarships at the end of your first year of study, if you satisfy those criteria.
You may also be required to provide proof of language proficiency. You will be considered for entrance scholarships on the basis of your overall averages in the six 4U/4M (Ontario curriculum) or equivalent courses.
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